I'm so glad it's Lent. My body and soul have been craving this season of the Church calendar, for some reason.
Actually, it's like this for me every year. Lent is the opportunity to resolve, to refresh, and to restart.
For me, Lent is a time of stripping away some of the noise and conveniences of this worldly life, in order to have more silence, more order, more time to reflect and ponder and pray. It is a time to meditate on God's profound love for us and all that His Son Jesus endured because of our sins. It is an opportunity to do with less and to unite our sufferings with Christ.
It is the saddest season of the Church calendar, but it is also the most hopeful. Without Lent, there can be no Easter. And so, we embrace the meaning and sadness of Lent so as to be better prepared to appreciate the meaning and celebration of Easter.
To practice relying on Jesus more than the modern conveniences of life, this year I've decided that I'm giving up the things that usually get me a bit googly-eyed just before I indulge in them. Those are: texting, email, Facebook, dessert, butter on my bread, mayonnaise on my sandwich, my weekly iced tea, hot chocolate, and jewelry (unless, of course, it is religious jewelry).
To practice being a better steward of the life God has given me, I have these daily goals (with the last two being goals to complete just once):
1. Always honor Liam’s signal to use the bathroom, even if it is slight and even if it is at an inconvenient time, such as when we are out in public.
2. Do a 30-minute brisk stroller walk for exercise.
3. Meditate on the next morning’s mass readings.
4. Blog once a day as a gift to Liam and to our extended family members, so that he and they may reflect on this time and see how thankful I am for it. :)
5. Go to bed at 9:30 PM.
6. Watch again The Passion of the Christ.
7. Watch Apostle Peter and The Last Supper.
Please pray with me, dear reader, that the Holy Spirit will give me the strength to do these tasks well!
